The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Position in Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP - Free Report) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,724 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 8,035 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company's holdings in Check Point Software Technologies were worth $6,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Check Point Software Technologies by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,432 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $15,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,522 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies during the third quarter worth $187,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 166,641 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $34,665,000 after acquiring an additional 10,861 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Check Point Software Technologies by 53.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 173 shares of the technology company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 11,120 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.51% of the company's stock.

Check Point Software Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of CHKP stock traded down $3.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $217.59. 643,265 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 780,835. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $202.75. The firm has a market cap of $23.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.66. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $145.75 and a fifty-two week high of $234.36.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $637.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $635.80 million. Check Point Software Technologies had a net margin of 32.97% and a return on equity of 32.40%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. will post 8.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHKP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised Check Point Software Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Check Point Software Technologies from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Check Point Software Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $232.04.

About Check Point Software Technologies

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. develops, markets, and supports a range of products and services for IT security worldwide. The company offers a multilevel security architecture, cloud, network, mobile devices, endpoints information, and IOT solutions. It provides Check Point Infinity Architecture, a cyber security architecture that protects against fifth generation cyber-attacks across various networks, endpoint, cloud, workloads, Internet of Things, and mobile.